Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has refused to reveal whether Christian Romero has been fined or fined by Spurs following his latest social media comments criticizing the club.
Moments after the winter transfer window closed on Monday, Spurs captain Romero described the squad’s lack of depth as “embarrassing”.
At his press conference Thursday, Frank repeated several times — “everything was handled internally” — including the question of whether he had been fined or disciplined.
When Romero last published a post on social media criticizing the clubfollowing the defeat at Bournemouth last month when he appeared to blast the club’s hierarchy for “lying” in a now-redacted Instagram post, Frank confirmed he did not discipline his captain.
“The beauty of written text is that you can read a lot into it,” Frank said of the social media post. “And no one really knows (what he meant), except for Cutie (Romero) or the guys who talked to him. It’s all handled internally.”
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Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge discusses Romero’s comments on Instagram where he expressed his frustration at the club’s current position
“It shows that Kuti is extremely passionate. He wants to win, to do everything he can with his teammates to achieve great things. You have to ask him the next time you talk to him.
“If you want to know what he meant, you have to ask him. That’s the right way to answer that question.”
“Kuti is a very passionate character and player, who will want to leave everything on the pitch. He is very ambitious and wants to win every time. Sometimes when you’re like that, it can turn into an outburst. It’s something we’ve dealt with and dealt with internally, of course.
“There are many ways to do things. Kuti has been very good for us this season and previous seasons. That is very important to be aware of.
“I wouldn’t do that. That’s my message.”
Frank: We pay too much attention to social media
In an Instagram post on Monday, Romero praised his side’s ability to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Manchester City despite only having “11 players available” according to the Spurs captain.
These numbers are debatable – Spurs brought on Matisse Tell, Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr from the bench, a clear indication that the club have at least 14 senior players available for the match.
One theory floated to Franco in his press conference was that Romero was frustrated at being forced to play against City despite being clearly ill.
Romero was ruled out at half-time at City due to illness and Frank admitted his captain had battled illness in the build-up to their previous game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
“Social media, I can’t get rid of it,” Frank said. “That’s what some people call the future, or whatever it is.”
“One thing I do know: We all definitely pay too much attention to social media. All of us. It seems like everything on social media is true.
“Everything we take: that’s the truth. It’s generally a challenge. That’s how it is. We deal with it.”
Asked if it was a concern that several Spurs ‘liked’ an Instagram post, Frank replied: “First and foremost, we don’t know what a like means.
“There are so many words in the post: do you like it (seems like a reaction to): ‘well done guys, you did amazing when I had to leave at half-time).’ If so, then perfect.
Is Frank happy with the transfer window?
Romero’s apparent assault on Spurs’ squad depth meant Franco was asked questions about whether he was happy the transfer window had just passed.
Spurs brought Conor Gallagher and young left-back Sousa into the squad – but failed to sign Antoine Semeny and Andy Robertson, who joined Man City and remained at Liverpool.
“I think we’ve signed Conor Gallagher, who is a quality player for the starting XI,” Frank said. “Of course nobody was promised any position, but we signed a quality player and a young player for the future (in Souza).
“If you compare it to other Premier League clubs, it’s very good. Where we are, it’s fine. We tried to do more, but for whatever reason it wasn’t possible.
“It is very, very important that we calmly make good decisions – both in the long and short term.”
“Of course we looked at loan options, we looked at long-term options. It wasn’t the case that we wanted to sign five players.”
Asked if he regrets letting Brennan Johnson join Crystal Palace – with no attacking replacement brought in, Frank replied: “There are a lot of moving parts in any decision when you sell a player or sign him.
“If you have a 3-4-3, then you have five players available (in the front row). Then Richie (Richarlison) could come back, so it’s six. Then Mo (Kudus) is back, so it’s seven. So from that perspective it’s fine.”